So, I really enjoy the game of football. I played it for 10 years and love watching both college ball and the NFL every week.
However, there are glaring issues with the product that sometimes make me feel uneasy watching it; like the rise of CTE and the incredibly slow steps the league have taken to fix it. I really don’t want to see any players commit suicide at age 40 or have mental issues just a few years after going pro.
Or the fact that the NCAA just uses their athletes to make money without giving them anything. And God forbid you receive a gift from someone and accept it. No making money off of your own persona and hard work without giving a huge chunk of it to the NCAA.
Then there’s the issue of so many prominent NFL players (and athletes in general) being abusive toward their spouses. They also aren’t allowed to smoke weed to help ease the pain of playing the grueling game.
But, it seems there is a more pressing issue than those mentioned above. Players are kneeling during the national anthem in peaceful protest in a ceremony that is unnecessary in the first place. Oh the humanity! They’re disrespecting the flag that represents their right to do the very thing they’re doing!
This is definitely the issue that the president should be commenting on and the NFL owners and commissioner should spend all summer deliberating on…
I had thought the issue was being resolved when a national anthem policy was announced at the end of May. Anyone on the field during the anthem had to stand, but players were able to stay in the locker room. Teams would be fined for disrespecting the anthem, and teams in turn could take action against specific players that kneeled.
I don’t agree with it, but at least they came up with something, right? Then towards the end of July the league and the NFLPA issued a statement rebuking that policy and negotiations were ongoing. As of today a decision hasn’t been reached.
The preseason has already started, and players continue to protest in their own peaceful way, and Trump continues to tweet angry responses at them.
This has just made the organization (and especially commissioner Roger Goodell) look bad, especially since the whole controversy surrounding the situation was on the downturn following last season. The public was used to and accepted it, begrudgingly or not. It was becoming a non issue.
Then Goodell and Co. had to patronize the president and make this unnecessary policy. It’s just another in a long line of blunders from Goodell, and one that won’t make any difference because the league is still making oodles of dollars.
In the end, there are so many other important things to argue about and find solutions for in the world of football, and in the greater scheme of politics. Yet some people can’t let go of a part of the game that only lasts five minutes.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor